Southern California native Taylor had no choice but to love landscape design: something's always in bloom. Several years ago, she took a shovel to her front lawn and replaced it with lots of drought-tolerant plants, ornamental grasses, succulents, and various types of hardscaping. Along the way, she's evolved into an environmentally conscious landscape designer.
Taylor lives with her family in a midcentury modern house with an authentic 1964-built swimming pool in dire need of renovation. It — along with dozens of other projects — is on the Taylors' do-it-ourselves, hopefully-sometime-soon list. She also collects and sells vintage patio furniture.
Experience:
Taylor has written for numerous publications, and websites including the Los Angeles Times, Emmy, Westways, L.A. Times Magazine, and Houzz.com. She's also written/edited for the Screen Actors Guild, PBS and MBI Publishing. Prior to freelancing, she was an editor/writer for KCET (PBS)) and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Taylor is a member of the Los Angeles Conservancy and the Garden Conservancy.
Education:
Taylor has a B.A. in Fine Arts and Art History from the College of Environmental Design at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She has a certificate in landscape design and also is certified in fine and decorative arts appraisal from the University of California, Irvine.
From Lisa Hallett Taylor:
As people downsize and houses get smaller, outdoor living spaces have grown in importance. The outdoor room is a much-needed retreat, and it needs to look and feel good. Many outdoor projects are DIY — accessible to anyone, at any skill level. The size of your space doesn't matter: a petite plot near an apartment door is just as significant as a massive, multi-level deck.
Don't be afraid to attempt a project: if you can follow directions and not take yourself too seriously, you can dig-in to the DIY world. My first garden as an adult consisted of yard-sale windowboxes perched on the second-floor landing of my apartment in L.A. I realized you can create an outdoor retreat almost anywhere, and those lowly flower boxes ignited an interest that has become a passion. You've got to start somewhere.
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